Senior-laden Warriors still hungry after tasting success

Feb. 26, 2008

Oakdale seniors DeCorey Jones (5), Josh Sumbler (12), Cortland Bell (10), Arsenio Johnson (3) and Shawn Johnson (22) have taken advantage of their experience to get the Warriors into the second round of the playoffs.

OAKDALE -- In 2007, Oakdale made the boys basketball playoffs as a wildcard and were promptly eliminated in a 63-47 defeat to Kinder in the first round.

That 16-point setback, while tough to swallow, served as inspiration for each of the Warriors' five current seniors.

"Last year, when we made the playoffs as juniors and lost, we just got hungrier," senior center Shaun Johnson said. "We're still hungry now in our senior season."

The 22-6 Warriors, who will travel to Plaquemine today for a second-round showdown with St. John, have already bested themselves thanks to an 81-58 win over Mamou in the first round of this year's 2A playoffs, but simply improving is not enough for the likes of DeCorey Jones, a senior forward.

"We want to go as far as we can," said Jones, who is averaging 23 points per game this season. "Making it to the Top 28 would be a dream come true and it's definitely a goal. ... I doubt anyone thinks we can make it that far, but no one expected us to do much as a team, anyway. Look where we are now."

Shaun Johnson, Jones, Aresino Johnson, Josh Sumbler and Cortland Bell, the quintet of seniors who, along with Gordon Webb and Lumas Guidry, comprise the Warriors' seven-man rotation, have been the catalysts for the team's success, Oakdale coach Marrico Wilson said.

"We're a senior-oriented team," Wilson said. "They bring a lot to this team. When we get down or when a team makes a run, it doesn't seem to bother us."

Early in the season, things were not quite as pleasant for the Warriors, who started 2-4 with losses to Port Barre (twice), Bunkie and Class C Brighton Academy (a game the Warriors were later awarded due to forfeit).

The sluggish start was attributed to both a lack of team unity and the fact that some of the Warriors' first few games were played with six of the top seven players still participating in football (Jones being the lone exception).

"This season has been one of the greatest experiences of my life," Jones said. "We struggled early on with injuries and with football players being out, but about midseason we got our heads screwed on straight and got our chemistry back. We came together and that was it."

The Warriors cruised through the latter half of their season, winning their last 17 regular season games (they were, however, defeated by Zwolle in a playoff tune-up game on Feb. 22) before defeating Mamou in the playoffs.

Oakdale, which managed to destroy Kinder 61-29 in a rematch from the 2007 playoffs during their 17-0 run, also went 10-0 in District 4-2A action, defeating 23-win South Beauregard and fellow playoff teams Rosepine and Pickering twice apiece along the way.

"It was a tough district this year," Wilson said. "Every game in that district was tough, as you could tell by the fact that, at the end of the year, everybody seemed to be beating everybody else."

How Oakdale navigated its way through the 4-2A landscape unscathed was a testament to teamwork, senior leadership and quality play, Wilson said.

"The thing with us is that we've had a lot of players step up," Wilson said. "DeCorey has been our most consistent player. He's put up 20 points a night most of the year, but Shaun has been there with 20 or 30 points some nights, Cortland has stepped it up, Gordon. ... We really haven't had to rely on just one guy. That's been the key."